Welcome to the Anthropocene
The Earth in Our Hands
Co-Curator | 1450sqm | 6 Dec 2014 - 30 Sept 2016 | Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
[lead curator Nina Moellers, co-curators Helmuth Trischler and Daniela Menge]
As an epoch, the Anthropocene concept suggests that human impact has become so great that we are creating our own geological age.
Working with a small team at the Deutsches Museum, Munich we created the world’s first exhibition dedicated to the Anthropocene concept.
Welcome to the Anthropocene drew on the objects and collections of one of the world’s largest science and technology museums. The exhibition was structured in three parts.
The first section provided a comprehensive introduction into the Anthropocene. The second part of the exhibition consisted of six thematic areas that present selected phenomena of the Anthropocene, looking particularly at systemic connections, global and local interdependencies, and temporal dimensions. The themes covered were urbanization, mobility, nutrition, evolution, human-machine interaction and ‘nature’.
The concluding section was a much more relaxing space and the final installation invited people not only to listen to possible future scenarios but also to plant their possible scenario in a field of paper flowers that evolved throughout the exhibition showing. It called upon each individual visitor to participate and reflect upon their role and aspirations for the Anthropocene.
humans, more than earth processes, are the largest mover of plants on the planet
this is just one of many key markers in the Anthropocene
the world’s first
exhibition on the
Anthropocene
Image Credits:
Exhibition images courtesy Deutsches Museum, Munich